Toast rack



A. V. TERRY TOAST RACK Nov. 22, 193s.

Filed May 29, 1957 (/WLMMJW Patented Nov. 22, 193s fiiA'tET OFFICE TOAST RACK Albert Victor Terry, Headless Cross, Redditch, England Application May 29, 1937, Serial No. 145,623 InGreat Britain June 11, 1936 3 Claims.

'I'his invention has reference to toast racks, and is designed to provide a new or improved form of rack which shall afford an effective yet easily releasable grip on the slices of toast, whether of uniform or of variable thickness, the rack being moreover of a neat and compact construction constituting an attractive and ornamental article of tableware, i Y

rIhe invention consists primarily in a toast rack in which resilient gripping jaws for the slices of toast are provided by the convolutions of an open-coiled spiral spring or springs incorporated in the rack.

The invention further consists in an arrangement wherein the open-coiled spiral spring is anchored at one end to a base or stand which incorporates longitudinal members for supporting the spring and guiding its expanding and contracting movements, and which also incorporates an intermediate longitudinal member for retaining the spring against displacement from the supporting base or stand.

The invention still further consists in an arrangement wherein said base or stand is stamped and pressed from sheet-metal so as to be of an open rectangular formation upstanding from corner feet and including the longitudinal springsupporting guides, and wherein the retaining member consists of a separate rod or bar which is located centrally of the base or stand so as to* extend longitudinally through the spring and to provide at one end an anchorage for the adjacent terminal coil of the spring.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into practice, reference may be had Vto the appended explanatory drawing, in which:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved toast rack.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the rack, in section on a plane indicated by the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the rack, in section on a plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Figure l.

In a convenient method of carrying the invention into effect, a toast rack is constructed from an open-coiled spiral spring a mounted horizontally upon a supporting base or stand b so" as to be adapted for expansion and contraction in relation to the stand. The base or stand h is of an elongated open rectangular form upstanding from short outwardly projecting Vfeet b1 at the corners, and is produced from sheetmetal by a stamping and pressing operation, the iiat top of the base or stand b` comprising opposite pairs of longitudinal and transverse members which are each of inverted U-formation in crosssection, and the transverse members at opposite ends being further formed with apertured bearing lugs b2 downturned centrally from their inner edges, and with curved or other ornamental lugs b3 downturned centrally from their outer edges. The spring a, which is of a normal length approximating to one-half the length of the base or stand b, is preferably formed from flat wire or strip, with one of its terminal coils inturned in a reduced circular form to' constitute a finger piece a1, the other terminal coil being formed with an attachment eyelet a2 for anchorage purposes.

In assembling the toast rack the open-coiled spiral spring a is laid horizontally upon and within the base or stand bi, with the undersides of its successive coils bearing loosely and slidably upon the longitudinal side members of the base or stand. A rod or bar c having reduced screwthreaded ends is then passed longitudinally through the lcoils of the spring a, through the pair of bearing lugs b2 on the end members of the base or stand b, and through the attachment eyelet a2 on one end of the spring, the rod or bar c being secured in this position by nuts d applied to its reduced opposite ends, and the spring w being thereby anchored to the base or stand b at one end, whilst remaining free at the opposite end for expansion and contraction within the limits of length of the base or stand b, and the spring a being further retained, by interior contact of the rod or bar c with the bases of its successive coils, against lifting displacement from its supporting base or stand b.

In using the improved toast rack, the opencoiled spiral spring a is first extended by means of its fingerpiece a1, and the slices of toast are then inserted between adjacent convolutions of the spring, which contracts when the ngerpiece al is released, and thereby effectively but resiliently grips the slices, which can be as easily released and withdrawn on the spring a being again slightly extended.

In the arrangement illustrated the coils of the spring a are obliquely and parallelly bent at their lower parts as at a3 so as to bring the upper parts of the coils into parallel relation in positions at right angles to the sides of the base or stand.

I claim:

1. In a toast rack, the combination of an opencoiled spiral spring, a base stand having longitudinal side rail members disposed in parallel relation for slidably supporting said spring and for guiding the freely expanding and contracting movements thereof, a longitudinal member incorporated in said stand so as to extend longitudinally through said spring, between and in parallel relation to said side rail members, for retaining said spring against lifting displacement from said stand, and means for anchoring one end of said spring to said stand, the opposite end of the spring remaining free for expansion and contraction limited only by the length of said stand, and the convolutions of said spring providing re silient gripping jaws for slices of toast.

2. In a toast rack, the combination of an opencoiled spiral spring, a sheet-metal stand of open rectangular formation having longitudinal side rail members for supporting said spring and for guiding the expanding andcontracting movements thereof, supporting feet on the corners of said stand, a bar incorporated centrally in said stand so as to extend longitudinally through said spring for providing an anchorage attachment of one end of said spring to said stand and for retaining said spring against displacement from said stand, and a ngerpiece on said spring at the free end opposite to said anchorage attachment, the convolutions of said spring providing resilient gripping jaws for slices of toast.

3. A toast rack in accordance with claim 2, wherein the coils of said spring are obliquely and parallelly bent at their lower parts so as to bring the upper parts of said coils into parallel relation in positions at right angles to the sides of said stand.

ALBERT VICTOR TERRY. 

